In Digital Signal Processing (DSP) based systems, a dynamic range of a system is defined as a ratio of the largest amplitude of processing signal to the smallest amplitude of processing signal, and can be estimated by utilizing the following equation Dynamic Range (dB)=20 log10(2N)≈6.02N, where N represents the data word length of the analog-to-digital (AD) converter or the digital signal processor.
One of the problems associated with DSP-based systems is “overload,” or saturation that can occur when amplitude of the processing signal exceeds a border of the dynamic range of the system. Such a border is usually referred to as a saturation level.
For example, monopulse antenna systems may employ various amplitude comparison methods for direction finding (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,184 to Galati, etc.). Such systems are adapted to simultaneously emit radar pulses toward a target object from two antennas of different directionality and to find the direction of the target object from comparison of radiation patterns obtained. When one or both antennas are close to the targets, the amplitudes of received signals can exceed the saturation level of the dynamic range of the receiver. As a result of the exceeding of the receiver's saturation level, any directional information can be lost.